1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to first aid kits, specifically to an emergency medical kit containing instruments and supplies for a physician or emergency personnel working under the auspices of a physician, such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, to use in an emergency situation to diagnose and treat someone who has suffered an eye injury. It is contemplated for the present invention to be used in any location where a physician or EMS personnel is called upon to diagnose and treat someone who has suffered an eye injury, including, but not limited to, medical offices of non-ophthalmic physicians, accident sites, shopping malls, residences, sporting events, and camping facilities.
2. Description of Prior Art
Adequate instruments and supplies to diagnose and treat eye injuries are almost always available to ophthalmic physicians when they are in an ophthalmic medical office or hospital setting. However, when physicians and optometrists are called upon to render assistance to those with eye injuries in non-ophthalmic medical offices and or in other locations remote from an ophthalmic medical office or a hospital, appropriate instruments and supplies may not be available. One example is when physicians at home are asked by neighbors to treat children with sports related, or other types of, eye injuries. Also, physicians may not have the appropriate instruments and supplies to render emergency assistance to those with eye injuries when they are called upon to render emergency assistance in public places, such as at accident sites, at concerts, in sports arenas and stadiums, and in shopping malls. It is not known to have an emergency medical kit containing specific ophthalmic instruments and supplies, for use by a physician or EMS personnel to render emergency medical assistance to a person with an eye injury in a location remote from an ophthalmic medical office or a hospital.
It is known for hospitals and some physician's offices to have portable examination carts to support eye examination devices, drugs and miscellaneous items, and which may be conveniently wheeled through a corridor from one location to another. Such an examination cart is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,859 to Decker (1978). The Decker examination cart also has an electrical power system, lamps, and lockable covers. Although portable, the Decker cart is too large and too bulky for a physician to use in remote locations for the emergency diagnosis and treatment of eye injuries. Also, the type of cart disclosed in the Decker patent would be too expensive for such use.
Many types of eye flush systems are also available for the emergency treatment of eye injuries. Some eye flush systems are portable and some, such as those found in laboratories, are positioned at permanent locations. A portable eye cup, which is oval-shaped to fit over an eye and which may be repeatedly filled with tap water, is commonly found in household medicine cabinets for eye-flushing purposes. More complex eye flush systems involve fountains which have nozzles to spray eye-flushing liquid into an eye to rinse it. Other eye flush systems involve reservoirs of eye-flushing liquid which have eye pieces or masks attached to them to cover the eye and direct eye-flushing liquid into the injured eye. U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,615 to Van Keuren (1994) discloses a portable eye flush device having a bladder of eye-flushing fluid attached to a mask. Also, some eye flush systems simply involve a flexible bottle of eye-flushing liquid with an eye-piece attached to it, which may be uncapped, inverted over an eye, and squeezed to dispense the eye-flushing liquid stored within into the eye to rinse it. All of these eye flush systems will dilute harmful liquids splashed into an eye, or rinse away foreign particles floating on the outer surface of an eye, but they will not extract an object lodged or stuck onto the surface of the eye, nor do such eye flush systems provide the appropriate supplies to cover and protect the eye after the rinsing procedure is concluded.
When the foreign particles which get into an eye are metallic, it is important to extract the metallic particles from the eye as soon as possible, especially metallic particles containing iron which can create rust deposits on the ocular surface. When metallic particles in an eye begin to rust, they require more extensive care to remove both the metallic foreign body and the rust deposits. Thus, it would be desirable to have an emergency eye kit containing the appropriate instruments and supplies available for physicians and EMS personnel to use in rendering emergency assistance to persons suffering eye injuries in locations remote from an ophthalmic medical office or a hospital, especially where the injuries involve foreign particles stuck onto the ocular surface.